expected of it. But the engineering difficulties at this point, and
still more at the Wada toge, a little farther on, proving too great,
the project was abandoned, and the through line built along the
Tokaido instead. The idea, however, had got too much headway to be
stayed. So it simply jumped the Usui toge, rolled down the Shinano
valley, climbed another divide, and came out, at last, on the sea of
Japan.

The hiatus caused by the Usui pass is got over by a horse railroad!
Somehow, the mere idea seemed comic. A horse railroad in the heart
of Japan over a pass a mile high! To have suddenly come upon the
entire Comedie Francaise giving performances in a teahouse at the top
could hardly have been more surprising. The humor of the thing was
not a whit lessened by its looks.

To begin with, the cars were fairly natural. This was a masterly
stroke in caricature, since it furnished the necessary foil to all
that followed. They were not, to my eye, of any known species, but,
with the exception of being evidently used to hard lines, they looked
enough like trams to pass as such. Inside sat, in all seriousness,
a wonderful cageful of Japanese. To say that they were not to the
horse-car born conveys but a feeble notion of their unnaturalness.
They were propped, rather than seated, bolt upright, with a decorum
which would have done more than credit to a funeral. They did not
smile; they did not even stir, except to screw their heads round to
stare at me. They were dummies pure and simple, and may pass for the
second item in the properties.

The real personnel began with the horses. These were very sorry-looking
animals, but tough enough admirably to pull through the performance.